Serious Air
by linen-and-curls
Summary: Flock and the Cullens are all at Dr. Martinez’s house. Flyboys are coming, and the Flock and the Cullens have to team up to fight Itex, save Angel again and save the world. Includes jealousy, mind reading, etc. HIATUS
1. Preparations

**Title**: Serious Air

**Author**: PolkaDotFeathers (previously Frederick von Pantsworthy, Devouring Sarcasm Phantasm)

**Author's Note**: Dedicated to the upcoming fourth Maximum Ride book (March 18, 2008)(Final Warning), the upcoming fourth Twilight book (Fall/Winter 2008)(Breaking Dawn), the upcoming Maximum Ride movie (2008 sometime) and the upcoming Twilight movie (December 12, 2008)

**Disclaimer**: - Disclaiming

**Chapter Title**: Preparations

**Full Summary**: Starting at the beginning of the adventure part, the Flock and the Cullens are all at Dr. Martinez's house. Flyboys are coming, and the Flock and the Cullens have to team up to fight Itex, save Angel (again) and save the world. Includes jealousy, mind reading (a lot), Fang/Max, Ella/Iggy, Edward/Bella, etc.

**Random Verse From A Random Song That Doesn't Pertain to the Story in Any Way:**

I'm a nightmare, a disaster!

That's what they always said –

I'm a lost cause, not a hero!

But I'll make it on my own

I've gotta prove them wrong –

It's me against the world!

**Song:**Me Against the World** Artist:**Simple Plan** Album:** Still Not Getting' Any

**Preparations:**

Bella's POV 

"Edward, I can't…I need – Please don't go!" I said softly. Edward looked at me with a mixture of pain and resignation etched into his marble features and golden eyes. It really hurt him to see his family fighting without him. But it hurt me even more to think about losing him. He nodded reluctantly.

I never wanted to lose Edward again. But there was another side of me asking him to stay out of this: I did _not_ want him fighting alongside that filthy_Maximum Ride_. What kind of name was that anyway? Maximum? Like, what, she thought she was the best? It was probably just Maxine or something anyway, and she convinced everyone to call her Maximum. Stuck up little –.

I had been peeking at the kids; Max's little family, while I had been apparently ranting in my head. Suddenly, the littlest girl – Angel – turned and glared daggers with such force I was thrown off-balance. Angel was usually very, very sweet and lived up to her name. She was maybe one of the only of Max's family that I liked. To see her so angry – with me! – made me kind of sad.

Angel turned and tugged on Max's sleeve. Max had been lecturing quietly to her family, readying them, I suppose, to run and hide from the danger that was approaching. Alice had never seen anything like it. Anyway, Max was lecturing, in that better-than-thou attitude she seems to carry around her like a bad odor, but as soon as Angel tugged her sleeve, she instantly stopped and crouched down to Angel's height.

"What is it, sweetie?" I saw Max's mouth form the words. I blinked. I had never, _ever_, heard (or seen, I guess) Max use an endearment. It was a little weird on her lips. I had come to know Max as a cold, hard, untrusting individual who thought herself better than everyone around her. She bossed around her family like they were slaves.

Angel whispered in Max's ear, and I saw her brow furrow in confusion.

"What?" her lips said.

Angel whispered again.

"For real, Angel? I didn't think…wow." Her eyebrows were no longer confused. They were hateful. Angry. Vindictive. Other words that mean basically the same thing.

Very, very slowly, her sparking eyes rose up to meet mine. I felt myself shiver a little bit. Max was cold when I first met her. Now she was ice. And the weird thing was, she was like ice, but with a white-hot flame in the center that only helped to make her colder. Scary.

As if in unspoken unison, every member of her small, underage family's eyes turned in my direction. Even Iggy's, who's _blind _for God's sake! Freaky.

They all were frowning angrily.

Edward had noticed, and he growled, deep and low in his throat. Instead of scooting back like the frightened children they _should_ be, Max stepped forward, her family half a step behind, her eyes narrowed to aggressive slits. I knew Edward well enough to know he was surprised.

This might have continued for quite a while longer, this staring contest of wills and fearlessness, but Alice suddenly broke in with a frightening statement. "They're coming closer! They'll be here soon!"

As if all hostility had been forgotten, Max turned and rushed back to what they were looking at. I had thought they were just conversing, but now they were gone, I could see that there were several pieces of paper spread out in what looked like a purposeful fashion. There was a little more hushed speaking, and then Max raised her voice. It seemed the secrets were done.

"Okay: groups. Iggy and Gazzy, you know what to do. I give you full rein. _But be careful!_" she added as Iggy and the Gasman slapped a high five, accompanied with excited yells.

"Oh! Max!" Iggy looked uncharacteristically mischievous. "We need your alarm clock." He grinned evilly.

Max closed her eyes in what looked like physical pain. Very, very slowly she opened them and muttered, "Okay." Her voice cracked.

The Gasman skipped off gleefully. Max's mouth formed the words 'clock murderer,' before she got back down to work.

"Nudge, go find Ella and ask her if she's staying or going. If she's going, practice by yourself. If she's staying, practice with her. Teach her some blocks."

"Okay, Max. But what if Ella leaves? Who will I practice with? Should I hit walls? Or maybe you can help me. What if I went on the –."

Fang slapped his hand over Nudge's mouth. When he decided she was done, he removed his hand cautiously.

"Yes, Max," she said, and bustled off (okay, she looked like she floated every time she walked. Why was it I was so attracted to people who were so incredibly graceful?) to do as Max said.

What did I tell you? Freaking slave driver.

"Angel, sweetheart, I'll need you to –."

"I know, Max," Angel interrupted.

"You know I'd let you fight if they had – you know – brains, right, sweetheart?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Fang, I need you to work with me. Angel, do you want to help us? Or would you rather see if you need to practice with Nudge so she doesn't have to terrorize walls?"

"I'll see if Nudge needs help, but if she doesn't, can I work with you and Fang?"

"Yep." Max told her. Angel nodded at her and glided away. Just looking at all these people, the Cullens, the…Rides? Jacob's pack. Just looking at them made me feel clumsy. I was afraid to stand up. I hope this will change soon.

Max's POV 

For the past 5 minutes, maybe 10, we've been reviewing our secret language. The one we created in the labs at the School. We've been at Mom's house for so long, and we haven't used it months. How horrible, to lose a fight because you were out-of-touch.

There was always the off chance we might need to use it. Ella's sister and her fiancée's family (and fiancée) did not know about our oddities, our Mutant Freakiness. They knew (or guessed) we were odd, because Edward, Bella's fiancé, can't read our minds.

The ace in the hole? Angel can read Edward's. _And _Bella's. Apparently, Edward cannot read Bella's mind, for whatever reason.

But we know everything to know about Edward and Bella and Alice and Jasper and Rosalie and Emmett and Carlisle and Esme. And they know nothing about us.

I was quizzing Iggy when Angel tugged my sleeve. On the off chance something with brains was accompanying our visitors (Alice has such a handy knack. And Angel was able to hack into her head to see that our opponents were indeed Flyboys) and she had been triggered by their thoughts, I knelt down immediately.

"Bella's taken Edward out," she said very softly in my ear. Not at all what I was expecting.

"What?" my forehead furrowed in confusion.

"She says she can't stand to lose him, but she also doesn't want him 'fighting for you'."

"For real, Angel? I didn't think…wow." Ever since she met me she's been nasty. We're not sure why. It's entertaining, sometimes. But not now. Not when she's just removed one of the strongest players of this game. This could seriously weaken our odds. Angel, through Alice, had seen literally hundreds of Flyboys. Maybe that was why they hadn't been attacking lately. Hmm.

Since I couldn't call her out without blowing our cover among these vampires (believe me, when Angel told us their little secret, I was all for high-tailing it out of there in the middle of the night. The only reason we're here is because Fang shut me up long enough for her to explain that they were 'vegetarians' [such a clever joke!.) I resorted to glaring horribly at Bella. The rest of the flock joined me. It was like Angel had sent a mass telepathic e-mail.

Edward growled at us. So clueless. I stepped forward, narrowing my eyes. Angel's voice filled my head.

_You surprised him_, she said

I projected a giant grin to the front of my head.

That might have gone on for quite a while, but Alice interrupted to let us all know the Flyboys were closer and moving fast. We went back to work.

After splitting up groups, and committing yet another of my alarm clocks to death by explosion (I mysteriously lost maybe 4 alarm clocks in Virginia, with Anne Walker), Fang and I got to work on our plans.

In front of us we had a diagram of a Flyboy (as we knew them), and a map of the area. On the spot where Mom's house was, we put a green pushpin. In the perimeter of where the Flyboys would be, according to Alice's vision, we put red pushpins.

For each of the people involved, we had a different colored pin. We made a clever list of which pin meant what person. We also made a list of the abilities that everyone of use had, including the Cullens. Unfortunately, this was not my idea, but Fang's, who has these periodic bouts of Smartness.

Since we had come back from Germany, we discovered, during an unfortunate hot dog incident, that Fang was fireproof. I, apparently, was not.

Angel and Nudge came back to say Iggy had talked Ella out of staying to fight, and convinced her to go with her mom, who was going to her vet clinic.

Apparently, we numbered 13. 13 against _hundreds_.

I sighed. We were always dealt the bad hand. At least we had super-human abilities, and our enemies were mindless robots.

But we were 13!

Okay, at least it was better than 6 kids and a dog.

I sighed again. Then I felt a warm hand on my back, between my wings, rubbing slow circles. I closed my eyes and sighed into it. I don't know how Fang always knows what I need.

"Talk about it," he said in my ear.

I turned slightly to give him a better view on what I was working on.

"We are 13, all together, even including Total. They are hundreds. We have abilities on our side, but they have sheer numbers. And guns! We aren't bulletproof! They maybe even – no, definitely – have wings. We can get higher, but…And no matter how I arrange it WE CAN'T WIN!" I didn't realize my voice had risen until I was yelling.

"Max?" Edward asked. My eyes flicked up to his, and I could feel them daring him to tell me to calm down. "Can we see what you're working on?" I contemplated for a second, then decided we could use help.

I folded up the paper that basically said we knew the Cullens were vampires, and we were mutant freaks, Avian Americans, and gave it to Fang, who stuffed it into his pocket.

I got up on my feet, brushing off Kitchen Floor Grime from my red sweatpants. Fang set aside our wicked-cool laptop and helped me pick up the corners of our map. Pinched between two of my fingers was the Flyboy diagram. Walking over to the table where the Cullens worked, we waited very patiently while they cleared a space for our stuff.

Frowns creased all of their perfect faces when they saw what we had been doing.

"What are all these pins for?" Esme asked.

"They're us – white with red is Edward. White with dark blue is Bella. White with pink is Carlisle. You're white with purple. Jasper is purple. Alice is yellow. Uh, Emmett is yellow with purple. Rosalie is purple with white. Fang's black." I saw Fang's mouth twitch upward at that. "I'm silver. Iggy is blue. Gazzy is dark blue. Nudge is pink, Angel is white, and Total is brown. Oh, and then Ella is white with a black dot, and Mom is white with a blue dot."

"What's red? And green and orange?" Jasper asked.

"The red is the Flyboys. Green is here, orange is the clinic."

"Flyboys?" Alice asked, confused.

"Yeah," Fang said, holding out the diagram we made, which he had plucked from my fingers.

We were met with silence.

Finally, Edward had to ask. "How in the _world_ do you know that that's what's attacking us?"

I met his question with an impassive face. Like hell we were telling and giving up possibly our biggest advantage.

Fang chose to answer from behind. "We may or may not have met them before. Would you appreciate information?"

The Cullens all exchanged loaded glances. Carlisle spoke up. "Yes, please, anything you have to say can help us."

I poked our diagram, at the base of the spine. "If they haven't updated this problem since – last time, uh, it's a design flaw. Whack it hard enough and they crumple. Very helpful. They also were equipped with wings starting in the last couple versions. Not helpful. Um, Version 6.0 (I think that's the one) had guns welded onto their arms, so we couldn't snatch them. Fang?"

"They have difficulties swimming. They short out. When they're caught on fire, all their screws and pulleys short out and they can't move –."

"Screws and pulleys?" Emmett asked.

"They're robots. The very first version was alive, brains and all. But the last of that batch died when Max was in Germany. They're robots with a covering of skin, which is really, really gross."

"You've fought them before?"

"The last time, we fought anything near this many of them, we lost," Fang said.

"Hey! Not fair! We had hardly ever had to fight before that! Plus, Ari had his boot on my face. It doesn't count," I protested.

Fang gave me a look. It said, 'I still haven't forgotten' – the Kiss. The _Kiss_. I pursed my lips and shot him my best death glare, accompanied by a soft, angry growl. Little bugger.

"But you've fought them before," Bella clarified.

I looked at her with my eyebrow raised. "No. What makes you think that?" I said sarcastically. I was met with reproving stares from everyone but Fang, who knew how stupid that question was. He also knew she had lowered our chances.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, duh. Why else would we say stuff like 'last time'? How else would we be able to know so much?"

"But you're just – kids!" she said, shocked.

"Big deal. That doesn't mean we've gotten to be kids, though." Fang has such a nice way of wording things sometimes.

Bella got up. Apparently, she couldn't stand any more of our bright, cheerful, helpful personalities. I mean, sometimes a person can't stand so much cooperative perfection!

What a loss.

Angel's POV 

I was about to block Nudge's punch when I felt Bella coming, followed closely by Edward. Bella's thoughts were angry and irritated. (Maybe Max had been talking to her?) Edward's thoughts were bemused and also mildly irritated. But also curious.

I sat down instead of blocking, and picked up a pre-shuffled hand of cards. Nudge followed me down. It was our signal that someone outside the flock was coming.

A couple seconds later, Bella walked in, observing what we were doing.

She strode over to where we were sitting, and sat down next to me.

"Hello, Angel," she said pleasantly.

"Hi, Bella." Edward sat down close to her.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Nudge and I are playing cards," I said, pointing out the obvious.

_Captain Obvious strikes again_, she thought. It was her own fault for asking stupid questions.

"Let's talk about Max," she said. Ah.

"Okay. I like Max. She's really nice, and really cool, and she let me have Celeste and Total."

_Has she brainwashed these children?_ I heard Bella think incredulously. I smiled.

"Angel, have you ever met a Flyboy?" Bella asked.

"Yep." Bella looked like she was expecting more.

"Oh…okay." Bella blinked. "Um. Can you tell us how you knew they were coming?"

"Nope!" I said cheerfully.

Bella blinked again.

She changed tact. "Why aren't you two packing up your things? In case you can't come back?"

Nudge decided to break in. "Because, first, if we were on the run, we wouldn't be able to carry that much, so we'd be done already. And second, we don't have much of anything. But that's okay, because we wouldn't be able to carry much around anyway. But then third, we're not going anywhere."

"You're not leaving?" Edward was surprised.

"Nope!" I said again.

"Well, why not? It could be dangerous!" Bella said. "Did Max not tell you that?"

"Of course she did. And Fang, and Iggy, and Nudge, and Gazzy, and Total. They all told me. But I'm staying and helping anyway. But Max made me promise to stay out of the way."

"But she's not making you leave with Ella and Mom? Why not? You're only six, for goodness' sake!"

"I'm not leaving because I can help. And you're only nineteen. Why _aren't_ you staying and helping us?" When I said this I looked surreptitiously at Edward.

He answered like I was only talking to Bella. "Because she's clumsy and would be no help at all."

I don't care about being clumsy. Bella could never help us.

Fang's POV 

We were over by the Cullen's workplace, Max and I. They were clearing a space for us and our gigantic map. Max was tapping her foot impatiently and looking anywhere but the table. She can be in such a rush sometimes. She was probably the most impatient person in the world. Except when she's with Angel, or Gazzy, or Nudge, or Iggy. Not so much with me, though. I think that she thinks that I'm old enough and smart enough to not deserve her patience. It was a double-edged sword. Blessing and curse rolled into one.

We had watched Bella and Edward leave. That was fine. Neither of them would be helping us. I could hear Max muttering to herself.

"And we're not children." The corners of my mouth twitched up. We were fourteen, and while we may not be 'children', we were only teenagers. The rest of the flock, excepting Iggy, was certified as 'children'. We may have never gotten the chance to be 'children', but legally we were.

But Max was never a child. She was 'created', and from then on she was an experiment. When Jeb bailed us, she was happy for a while, but she wasn't past being an experiment until Jeb disappeared. But then she was the 'Mom.' She took care of all of us, even me. Yeah, I know. Tough guy Fang. But I don't know what I would have done when Jeb left if she weren't there.

And the way she takes care of all of us! Plus she has to balance out being on the run half the time, fighting Erasers and then Flyboys, making her famous snap-decisions (eugh!) and, of course, saving the world.

I think I was zoning out. I didn't realize until just now.

Max was looking around at all the Cullens. Sizing them up? I'm not sure, but it seemed she had an epiphany. That would be another reason she's leader: she has this uncanny ability to stumble across the perfect plan, this burst of inspiration the rest of us just seem to lack sometimes.

That shine of smart just sparked into her eyes, and she suddenly leaned down to rearrange the pins on our map. Edward's, Bella's, and Ella's pins all moved to cluster around the clinic's along with Dr. Martinez'. That earned a raised eyebrow from the Cullens (I assume they were wondering how we knew Edward was out).

Then she put our pins on the front line, me, Iggy and Max up front, in front of Angel, Gazzy and Nudge. Then she thought a little bit before hiding the Cullen's pins in the woods surrounding the house, and the Flyboys.

She angled her body slightly toward me, shooting her voice quietly to my ears. "We attack from inside, they attack from outside. They know we're here, but they will _never_ expect the Cullens." She chuckled a bit.

I could see it now:

My face impassive as I looked out onto hundreds of Flyboys, and, probably, death. Iggy, feet spread, balanced, eyes closed, hands clasped in front of him. Listening for the enemy. Max, standing in between us, feet spread slightly, weight on one hip, hands on waist, in that annoying way of hers; that tough look on her face that struck fear into human enemies. It also made her stronger, got her into the frame of mind special for kicking the School's proverbial butt. Angel, behind Max, her sweet, little girls' smile on her face. Total, at Angel's feet, trying to look like a normal dog. (He says it makes it all the more frightening when he attacks.) Gazzy, shifting on his feet behind Iggy, looking nervous but trying to be stoic. He'd be better once he hit something. Nudge, behind me, just bursting to say something, but also looking like she might want to run. She, too, would be better once they attacked.

_And then I saw the Cullens. Alice would have seen _exactly_ when they would attack, timing their coming perfectly. The Flyboys would advance, and all of a sudden, there would be chaos in the back ranks. _

_It would be Max's cue. She would snap out her, huge, beautiful wings – on second thought, she probably wouldn't. She still didn't want the Cullens to know about us. But she would still launch herself into the air (though not as high), looking like poetry. _

_And she would be our cue. We would follow her for forever. Our leader. The one who had saved us after Jeb abandoned us. She had saved us from so much. We could only repay the favor every chance we got, despite how much she'd love for us to just stay out of every fight. But we always help, because, really, what would she be without the Flock? What would she fight for? And how would she be able to fight _nearly_ as well without the Flock behind her?_

Jeez. I'm feeling pretty darn mushy lately. Maybe this is how everyone feels before they die. Because there's a _huge_ possibility.

I could see Max was visualizing it, too. And I could see she thought it might work, according to the itsy-bitsy smile pulling on the corner of her mouth. Very slowly, almost as if she was afraid doing so would jinx it, Max smiled. An actual smile, like something I haven't seen since the Cullens came here.

Kicking butt, or even planning on it, _did_ actually tend to put Max into a nice mood.

Suddenly, her smile turned into a full-fledged grin. She threw her hands up, letting out a whoop of joy that sounded like it had been too long held in. Too bad Bella wasn't here to see (even though Max probably wouldn't have done anything this opening in front of her) because Max was so alive. Bella's main problem with Max, aside from Edward (she was under the impression that because Edward was so interested in the Flock, and therefore Max, Max was a threat to her relationship), was that Max was almost surreal. Like she was not entirely human (ha ha! Get it?), like she was almost a robot. Untrusting, and cold. The truth was, though, Max just didn't trust someone who had such a grievance against her for no reason. Imagine, okay, Max decides to reveal the _wings_. Okay, now Bella's even more threatened: Edward has this better-than-human, pretty as heck, mutant girl with super speed, strength greater than the average grown man, and _wings_. And all she was worried about originally was Edward's interest because he couldn't read our minds.

Max's words, not mine. I had to ask her why. _I _would have whipped out the wings any day of the week.

But, even though I'd never tell anyone, Bella and I'd be in pretty much the same boat, if Edward decided to go for some mutant excitement.

Max's POV 

Oh my gosh! I've found it! The _perfect freaking plan_! Yes!

I could see it now! We'd all be in our tough-guy stances, me with my hands on my waist, my weight on one hip in the way I have that's just so endearing. The Flyboys would start up, and BOOM! Cullen sneak attack from behind. Chaos, then we kick in from the inside. They'll be trapped. Perfect, I say! Yes!

I threw up my hands, letting out a whoop. I was too overjoyed to be embarrassed by this show of emotion, however deserved it was.

"Would you care to explain?" Jasper asked, one eyebrow raised.

I gestured for Fang to take over and tell all about the Plan.

Fang seemed a little put out that I would assume that he already knew what was going on. How do I know this? Because he said: "Why would you assume I already know what was going on?"

I crossed my arms, shifted my weight to one leg, and pursed my lips. Then I did the eyebrow raise. Angel calls it the look I give Fang when we're fighting and I'm going to win. I love that kid.

"We," Fang said, pointing to our pins, "are here. You are here, Alice, Jasper, Esme, Carlisle, Rosalie, and Emmett. Flyboys. The Flyboys attack and you hit them from all around. When you attack, we hit them from the inside. It will be simple work after that to just move in, or out, and demolish them _all_!" Like me, Fang enjoys a good plan, ice cream, kicking the School's proverbial butt, and long walks on the beach. And the color black, but that's more of a Fang thing. I'm too fashion challenged to care too much about favorite colors. With my luck, it wouldn't be my _color_ anyway.

"Where's Edward and Bella?"

I widened my eyes innocently. "At the clinic."

More loaded glances were exchanged. "How –?" Rosalie started.

Fang and I acted convincingly oblivious. Jeezum, I just _love_ Angel.

I grinned hugely in my head, since if I did it on the outside it would blow our innocence. Fang looked at me funny.

Fang's POV 

While we were acting all innocent, I noticed something subtle about Max change out of the corner of my eye. I gave her a weird look. Max and I have this…_thing_. It's a little creepy, and hugely irritating sometimes. We can kind of tell what the other is thinking. Not in a mind-reading way, but in a topic kind of way. Sometimes.

Right now I could see that Max would have split her jaw if she were actually grinning, she was smiling so big in her head.

It was kind of funny.

Max's POV 

I've kind of guessed that Fang knows I'm about to split my jaw inside my head, since he's giving me the Fang version of 'You are so stupid' – which is like basically his eyes get a _itty-bitty, teensy-weensy_ bit flatter, more exasperated. Tired.

He can just shut up, okay?

"Shut up, Fang!"

Whoops.

"What?"

"Never mind." I gave him the look that said, 'You're getting it later, bub.'

He gave me the Fang version of 'Yeah, _right_.'

Does it ever seem to you sometimes that Fang and I have a Fang/Max language?

Or maybe Fang's just girly enough we can do the 'Look Language'. You know: that language girls have when all they have to do is look at each other and they _know_.

…Yeah, I think he's kinda girly.

**So there you go – longest freaking first chapter I've ever written (my beloved copy of Word counts it as 7 pages)**

**What do you think?**

**Review or I will shun you::sticks nose in air::**

**Review!!!! **


	2. The Battle Part 1

**Title**: Serious Air

**Author**: PolkaDotFeathers (previously Frederick von Pantsworthy, Devouring Sarcasm Phantasm)

**Author's Note #1**: Sorry to those of you who were confused about it not starting at the beginning. I was going to go back and put in everything _up_ to the point I started at, but I decided I just _couldn't_! I mean, all the DRAMA in this chapter! I can't just go back to boring old _past_! Jeez! So, yeah, if you have any SERIOUS(haha)LY PRESSING QUESTIONS, just ask, and I'll try to answer (as long as it wouldn't give anything away)

**Author's Note #2: **Dedicated to all things Max Ride, Fang's Blog (which ROCKS!), the new book, the movie, Amy Rose (go you!), and fanart. Also dedicated to all things Twilight, the new books, the movie, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and fanart again.

**Author's Note #3: **The POVs in this chapter are considerably shorter than in the last one. This is because I want to give you, being the readers, a riveting sense of being swept along in a fast-paced adventure. There _are_ fight scenes here, you know. It's only sensible. Let me know if it worked! (Splee!)

**Author's Note #4:**ATTENTION, you who are not artfully challenged! You need to step it up and make some Max Ride AVATARS! I have resorted to deviantART, which is not_that_ bad (plus my avatar is/used to be the _cutest_picture of Max and Fang kissing), but STILL. **WHERE** are the avatars, people! Get on it! Jeez! 

**Author's Note #5: **Yes, there is another. I can't help it if I just have so much to say. Get over it.

Okay – I have a challenge. Here it is. **Challenge:** A Maximum Ride fanfic _involving_ a real plot, fairies, Holly Short, LEPrecon, Artemis Fowl, Max _not_ being a freaky control freak who freaks out, Fang being Fang-like and silent, not weirdly talkative because all you people want him to have more parts. Also include, Arty's genius, Holly's fire (a.k.a._pizzazz_), hopefully NO MINERVA, any pairing otherwise in the Artemis area, and then either (ooh! IDEA!) Max/Fang, Max/Iggy, or MAX/ARTEMIS

Thank you.

**Author's Note #6:** Maybe I need to write a story of author's notes. Oh My Bob. OKAY,_challenge #2_ – a Max/Artemis (as in romance/crossover. Not just crossover) fanfic. HOW FREAKING COOLIO WOULD THAT BE? I might write it myself .

**Author's Note #7:** Also, I will be posting this chapter in two parts… read on, then!

**Disclaimer**: Not mine:cries in corner:

**Chapter Title**: The Battle – Part 1

**Full Summary**: Starting at the beginning of the adventure part, the Flock and the Cullens are all at Dr. Martinez's house. Flyboys are coming, and the Flock and the Cullens have to team up to fight Itex, save Angel (again) and save the world. Includes jealousy, mind reading (a lot), Fang/Max, Ella/Iggy, Edward/Bella, etc. 

**Random Verse From a Random Song That Doesn't Pertain to the Story in Any Way:**

Don't lose your passion or the fighter that's inside of you…

**Song:**Conversations With My 13 Year Old Self**Artist:**P!nk**Album:** !'m Not Dead

Random Quote From a Random Place That Doesn't Pertain to the Story in Any Way

Why get high when there are other ways to achieve a smug sense of superiority? 

Sarcasm: My Anti-Drug.

**Medium**: Avatar (icon)

Max's POV

We were waiting. 

It was absolutely _horrible_. I mean, _gah_. Who really likes to wait for a destruction that you know is coming, but you don't actually know when? Iggy was sitting tiredly on a bench outside the house. Angel was sitting on the dirt, drawing pictures in the sand, getting sunburned. I ached to get her out of the sun, but that would mean abandoning my post, which happened to the most likely place that we would see the Flyboys first. Nudge was uncharacteristically quiet, though her mouth moved silently as she talked to herself. Gazzy was shifting from being with Angel on the dirt, to being with Iggy, who was unusually not participating in what Gazzy was trying to distract him with. Iggy was very emotional about this place, though he'd never admit it. We, being me and Fang, who are now, currently, the Flock's psychiatrists, have determined that after the horrible failure that was Iggy's parents, he felt attached to my mom and sister like he wanted to be with his own. Good news for him is, he's practically Dr. Mom's son anyway, as was the entire Flock. And I didn't really mind sharing her anyway.

Fang and I? Yea, we were on watch. Fun fun fun fun fun!

Gah.

_Ella's POV (at the Clinic)_

This is what I imagine the wives of the dudes at war feel like – if, you know, by 'wife' you mean 'concerned sister', and by 'dudes' a.k.a. 'husbands' you mean 'siblings/family'. And by 'war' you mean 'catastrophic clash of calamitous proportions'. I felt, like, really agitated. And anxious, you know? Usually I was really at home with all the recovering animals at the Clinic, but today, all I could think about was 'what if those animals hate us for keeping them here?' like, you know, the Flock. The younger ones are better about it, but you can still see it, especially in Max and Fang and Iggy. That deep rooted, loathing, fearful hatred of anything possibly related to the School and Itex. And hospitals and doctors and scientists and basically _anything_ along those lines. As a result, Max was, like, really, really paranoid. That's why she wasn't very nice to Bella when she first came here. But then Bella took it bad, and now Max's paranoia is even worse. And Bella thinks Max is stuck up. But she's also kind of scared of her. Max is pretty tough. I was scared of her when I saw her the first time. Fang is all in himself. He doesn't let a lot out, ever. But I think he siphons things off into Max when it gets to be too much, because one day he'll be extremely introverted, totally and completely disaffected, and then that night I'll hear whispers from Max's room. Then the next day he'll be, like, better than normal. Call me crazy, but I think I'm onto something. And Iggy – wow, Iggy. That boy has got some major, like, anger management issues, you know? Just kidding. No, really. I think he channels, like, all of his hatred of Itex and the School into blowing things up. I mean, just a guess. But, whatever. I'm shocked about Angel, though. Not only is she okay herself, but she's okay with having to deal with all of Max's and Fang's and Iggy's and Nudge's and Gazzy's pent-up hatred too. Not to mention all their problems in life itself, and the problems of everyone around her. I think it's because of the Flock that she's still a normal (-ish) human (loose term) being. 

I'm really worried for them. The Flock told Mom and me about what had happened before and after we met Max for the first time. Even though Max and the others are, like, super-tough and all that, the Flyboys are still machines, still strong and metal, and still out to get them, apparently. The biggest problem with the Flyboys, besides them being, like, cold-blooded killers, is that I don't see how the Flock can win without using their secret talents. Max had completely vetoed that whole 'revealing-the-wings' thing. Remember that, like, speech about how messed up the Flock is? And the part about how, like, paranoid Max is? I wasn't kidding. Really. I know you're surprised and still think I'm pulling your chain and all, but, yep. There you have it. 

All I have left to say is, like, if they die, I'll kill them.

_Iggy's POV _

I heard the Flyboys before anyone else saw them. I told Max and she got everyone into position as we listened to the all-too-familiar clink of mechanisms, the faint whirring sound as they flapped their electronic wings. And that overwhelming instinctual fear that each and every one of the Flock has permanently programmed into their hearts and minds. The fear that tells normal people to run like hell but tells us to survive. It doesn't matter if we stay and fight, or run on the ground, or take to the air. The objectives are simple and immune to the variables of situation and the elements of circumstance. 1. Stay together. 2. Stay alive.

As I said, really basic, excruciatingly primal. Which was why it was so easy to understand. Obey, not so much. Maybe more for Max. A little less for Fang, as he's a loner by instinct. He's with us because his more controlling human part is forever attached to his family. Us. Max raised us, though. She's got the kind of instincts you would compare to a mama bear/gang member/eternal smart aleck. A.K.A. she's got the maternal instincts, and the familial instincts (don' mess wif my crew, etc.), and a mighty sarcastic smart aleck attitude that hitches a ride along with it all. A merry band of Kick-Ass. 

We bird-kids were built to survive. A part of us that is immensely helpful when we're on the run, and not so helpful to the people trying to catch us. They've managed to do it a couple times since we got out. But never for long – again, probably because of Max, and Angel, not to mention our, being Gazzy and me, – ahem – decent grasp of pyrotechnics….

Nah – we would have never gotten out without one another. It's in nature too, (most) birds work better in a flock. And besides, each and every one of us gives the others a reason to live, besides the pure joy of being a bird-kid on the run from mad scientists hungry to cause you pain in experiments kept secret from the world… that goes without saying, of course!

_Iggy_, said Angel's mind-voice.

Ah, my musings have officially been interrupted. Time to open up my own can of Whoop-Ass. (It involves _booms_ and bright, flashy colors.)

_Angel's POV_

"They're here," Iggy said. Those two (and a half) words caused rapid action. Max and Fang snapped to attention, ushering us into position in front of Max's Mom's house. On the edge of my mind, I could feel Alice's consciousness, who was having a vision of what we were doing right now. She gets fast updates! I'd be cool if one of us could see the future…

Anyway! We three younger Flock members (me and Gazzy and Nudge) stood in the spaces between and behind the other three. Total was on all fours, his hair sticking up, standing at my feet. I did a quick scan of all the minds around me. 

Gazzy: _Oh shoot – what if we're not ready? What if there're too many? What if something bad happens? What if we get hurt? What if –?_ That went on for a bit – Gazzy always fretted before things like this. It was the same gist before a test when we were in Virginia with Anne.

Nudge:_ Dear, what'll we do? Max thinks that we won't win without losing some, but I think we can pull it off – we have VAMPIRES on our side, after all! I mean, wow! Vampires! I wonder what all they can do…. Angel says that they can sparkle in the sun! I wonder what that looks like? I bet it's shiny – of course it's shiny! Sparkles _are_ shiny. That was stupid. I'm glad Max didn't make us leave when she found out that they were vampires…but then, we wouldn't be here…But that's okay, because otherwise the Flyboys would have come after Dr. Martinez and Ella…and we wouldn't be here to help! Or what if they came after us, and the Cullens couldn't help _us_? Hmm…_

Nudge was thinking about all that _and_ at the same time wondering what kind of attack the Flyboys would try for first, and how she'd counter it. Nudge is a multi-tasker at it's best.

Iggy: _And besides, each and every one of us gives the others a reason to live, besides the pure joy of being a bird-kid on the run from mad scientists hungry to cause you pain in experiments kept secret from the world… that goes without saying, of course!_

Iggy usually thought like that. He's where I got most of my vocabulary, which Max says is really big for a six-year-old bird-kid on the run with minimal education.

_Iggy,_ I told him, because he sometimes does that. Goes off into an inner monologue and forgets to listen to what's happening around him. 

Fang: Fang's mind was mostly closed to me, but no one but Jeb can completely shut me off. Even when Fang and Max, who do it best next to Jeb, close their minds, I can still get their feelings. Fang was really tense and strung up. He hadn't had a chance to talk to Max in private for a while, so all his emotions were bottled up, and to top it off, we had hundreds of Flyboys about to attack us.

Max: _Well, at least we're done waiting…_she thought sarcastically, before her brain lapsed into the Zen-like silence that it was so accustomed to. 

Carlisle: His head was in the same sort of Zen mode that Max's was now…I couldn't get anything off him but an underlying feeling of … dread.

Esme: _Dear, I hope that the kids are okay…_ Esme was always the mother-one. Even though we weren't hers, she worried about us like we were. She was better than Anne, though, because Esme realized we had to help out. 

Rosalie: Rosalie was kind of like Max. She was really pretty and kind of mean to some people (but Rosalie was more mean while Max was annoying and sarcastic and ironic and mocking) and she was really tough. She was thinking about how she was kind of hungry, and she was hoping the Flyboys would be a nice challenge. I hoped they'd be easy, actually….

Emmett: Emmett reminded me of Gazzy sometimes. He's really cool and really creative, and he's funny! I think Gazzy wants to be Emmett when he grows up (minus the vampire undead thing).

Jasper: _I wish that I could be closer to them...they need more help than they let on._ I'm not sure what 'them' he's talking about.

Alice: Alice was really funny. She thinks a lot about really random things. I think it's her way of blocking Edward from her mind. Right now she was translating some sort of ancient text into Albanian or something like that…on the edge of her consciousness, I could feel Edward probing her. It was all the passage I needed to get to Edward's mind, and, from there, Bella and Dr. Martinez and Ella.

Edward: _What is Alice hiding from me? Ah! She is so _infuriating_! I wish I could help them!_ We wish you could help, too, Edward.

Bella: _Oh dang, I'm starting to have second thoughts! I don't want them to die! But I don't want Edward to leave either! But I can't let them die…but they're strong fighters, the Cullens. They can handle these things. And they're not even expect- oh, who am I kidding! I have to let him go! I can't just let those kids die…Aw, dang._ Um, okay? Bella's come to the good side? Weird….

Dr. Martinez: _Jeez! God, I hope they'll be okay!_

Ella: _All I have left to say is, like, if they die, I'll kill them. _I've got to say, Ella's a complete riot….

_Fang's POV _

It was almost exactly like I envisioned it. Almost – except for the small details, like Angel being sunburned, Iggy's eyes being open, even though it didn't help anything, and Nudge being completely calm. And me; I was pretty certain that my face was_not _impassive. It probably didn't even take Max or a mind reader to see I was tense and ready to blow.

Though we were in position and ready to go, the Flyboys took forever with actually _getting _here, so much so that I was worried that we'd been duped and they weren't even coming at all. But we could hear them, and let me tell you: it was not doing anything good for anyone's nerves. We were all wound up from hearing them, and then we were even more on edge when we couldn't see them for forever. But Alice had her vision, and the sun was almost down to exactly where it was in her mind, and then we saw them.

_Max's POV_

It was like a bad war movie; or a good one, depending on your perspective. The only reason we didn't attack them as soon as we saw them and/or run for the hills screaming bloody murder was because we had to wait for the Cullens to strike first. It was vital. Well, that, and it would have been stupid. But I had tiny second thoughts that I immediately squashed. _Maybe the other way would have been better…I_ thought as we found ourselves surrounded on all sides by the nasty machines. _But I can't back out now – then there'll be _no_ way to survive this_. The Flyboy's wings were sleek and shining and probably very aerodynamic (they couldn't beat me, but they could probably give us a run for our money on normal terms), their guns (cheaters!) still welded onto their arms. Ah, the good ol' days, when a bird-kid could tear an automatic gun out of a flying machine's grasp and use it against said flying machine….

But not any more! Now the tables were turned. But maybe the Cullens would help to settle them – or, maybe, tip them in our favor.

I was not allowed to space out into oblivion any longer, as a large-ish sized commotion started up in the back ranks of our enemies. My gaze flicked quickly back at Angel, who nodded her head eagerly in affirmation. This was our cue. It was now, or never. Fight, or flight. Life, or death. 

I attacked. 

_Bella's POV_ _(at the Clinic)_

God, Ella was _killing me_! Between her never-ending fidgeting and her reproachful glares aimed my way (_why_ was everybody _doing_ that lately?), I was slowly going insane. It was like every fidget reminded me of what was happening back at Mom's house, and every glare reminded me that if they failed, it was my entire fault. 

I tried to help myself ignore her by telling myself I couldn't lose Edward – and that helped, for a bit, but then I realized that if Edward lost them, I'd lose him anyway. He wouldn't be my Edward anymore. So then I distracted myself with playing with the recovered kittens – and they were cute, for a time; but then kittens made me think of puppies, and puppies made me think of dogs. And dogs made me think of Total, and Total made me think of Angel. Then Angel made me think of Max and her family, and then that all made me think of – yep, you guessed it: the fight, and it being my entire fault. 

Stupid dang KITTENS!

Finally, I just couldn't take it anymore. 

"Oh my God! Edward! Please, just go help them!"

I was annoyed, and yet not surprised by the astonished and confused looks I got all around Mom's Clinic. 

**Okay, definitely shorter than the last one – this is only 5 pages (hey people! Shut up about my author's notes!) while the last one was seven-ish. **

**Quick! Random Niobe Fact! (RNF)**

What are you listening to RIGHT NOW?

_Cloud Nine by Evanescence from The Open Door (huzzah!)_

**This has been your chapterly edition of RNF….tune in next time for MORE!**

**Ok, that was random, indeed … ok, you people have TWO OPTIONS: **

**1. You can get the next half of the chapter as these have been, short and changing POVs…. OR**

**2. You can get the next half from mostly Edward's, with Max's and/or Fang's at the end-ish, possibly, depending on how much I stick in that one … **

**THE CHOICE IS YOURS!**

**and by the way, everyone! this chapter was also lovingly dedicated to tandem, who gave me the most fantastic review! pity that he/she/it/the anonymous reviewer was anonymous, for i would have been very excited to respond. but i will have to do it here:**

**i'm so glad that you think they're in character. i was kinda down because i felt like they weren't, but i hope that they still are. and to bella's witchyness, it'll pass. you're right, she's just uncomfortable around Max. so...yea! thank you so much for your great review! 15 Iggy Radness Points to you! Huzzah!  
**


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